In 1980, the German Wind Energy Association sent a memorandum to the government of the Federal Republic, demanding that it do more to promote small-scale wind-power units. The Federal Ministry for Research and Technology had invested three-fourths of wind energy subsidies into large-scale projects, for example, the development of the “Monoptero” by the company Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). The scarcity of funds was only one impediment to small units. Other challenges involved building authorities and the granting of permits, and the unwillingness of electricity providers to connect these units to the power grid. Despite this, “large wind units” [“Großwindanlagen“ or Growiane] became surprisingly popular in Germany. This picture features a small unit produced by MBB.